


The World on his Shoulders

by Leonawriter



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-15 20:39:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/853820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonawriter/pseuds/Leonawriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ushio sent Yuusei out on a small errand to investigate something for him, none of them would have thought that Jack would end up finding their friend hours later, having been in the company of those who had no reason to love the old members of Team Satisfaction.  The road to recovery would be a long one, but his friends would be there every step of the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It'd been hours, and Yuusei still wasn't back yet.

That Ushio had asked him a favour that very morning, something about checking something out for him, which of course Yuusei had agreed to.  Then he'd vanished, leaving his D-Wheel behind.  Jack himself hadn't felt the need to bother trying to contact him until much later on, after his usual cup of coffee, but apparently there hadn't been a good enough signal for the call to go through.  He hadn't thought much of it at the time, however.

Crow had dropped in several times in between deliveries, and asked after Yuusei.  Each time, Jack had had to say that he was still out.

It was getting annoying, it was getting frustrating by the third time, and the time after that, and when he tried calling and he still couldn't get through... he began to get concerned.

So instead of calling Yuusei, his next attempt at figuring out what was going on was Ushio himself, in the hopes that the man would know where Yuusei had gone, and if so, whether he it was even worth worrying over in the first place.

Ushio's reaction was not what he'd expected.

The Security officer had been shocked, having apparently not realised that Yuusei wasn't back yet and expressed his own concerns.  He'd sent Yuusei off after some trivial thing, but suggested his bike might be too recognisable - which reeked of the idea that whatever area Ushio had sent him into, the residents were closer to the reason why most people had tended to avoid going near the BAD area.

Jack had hung up, furious, and hadn't bothered to wait for Crow before storming out, grabbing his helmet, and riding off, only leaving a note saying _Gone to find Yuusei_.

He called Carly once he'd calmed down enough to _think_.  Told her everything Ushio had told him, so that she could help him search, by trying to figure out where he might have gone.  She'd listened, and said that she'd do the best that she could.  There wasn't more he could ask of her, really, and she was better off where she was - she wasn't the kind of person who'd do well in the places he might end up having to go.

She'd called maybe an hour later, during which he'd taken to riding around the shadier parts of town, the sorts of places Ushio had suggested he might have been, and told him of a place.  He'd thanked her - and told her as an afterthought to tell Crow as well, vaguely aware that he was probably going to get an earful for going off on his own and leaving Crow behind when Yuusei was in danger.

He simply hadn't thought.  And while he'd been driving around, his mind had been so wholly set on finding Yuusei - wondering whether his foster brother and rival would just come out of some random alley, or if his D-Wheel would patch him into a call showing his confused face, hoping that the images his mind was throwing at him didn't become real - that he hadn't even had the time to even think of contacting Crow before that.

The place he finally pulled up in front of was your average more or less abandoned set of apartments.  No one would usually look at them twice, and he was sure he'd even driven past them at least twice.  The Wheel of Fortune was hidden, and he soon found himself going up the steps, trying one door after another, and if the door was locked, breaking the damn door down just to make sure.  The place was old enough and in just enough disrepair that it didn't take too much effort, either, but after the first hall his temper began to fray.  Had he really come all this way for nothing?  Was Yuusei not here after all?

Which was when he'd heard the laughter coming from the upper floors.  He'd stilled, unsure whether they'd heard him, and if so how many there were?  Regardless whether Yuusei was there or not, this could turn out badly for him as well if he wasn't careful.

Thankfully, he only met one as he came up the stairs - a man in his twenties, markered twice on the face - who was out cold within moments of having told Jack that yes, they did indeed have 'that famous duellist' up there.  He figured that what with the look of fear in the man's eyes as well as a lack of consciousness meant that he could just leave him there for Security to find later on, assuming Ushio had talked to the others since he'd gone looking.

The sounds of laughter grew louder as he came closer, and his rage only increased with every step he took.

The door slammed inward and as the laughter stopped, Jack counted somewhere around seven faces, all but two markered, and he even recognised a couple.

From his days in Team Satisfaction.  One of the old Duel Gangs they'd beaten, and whose duel disks they'd shorted out.

No wonder they'd taken the first opportunity as soon as they'd seen it, even though it was obvious that Yuusei hadn't given up without a fight himself - all of them sported bruises, even the one now on the stairs come to think, which would make this even easier.

The first one rushed at him, and Jack used the force of his momentum against him; the second lost his footing, and the third got a kick to the stomach but still kept going, prompting a punch that finished the job.  Another tried, but Jack was too far gone in anger and remembrance of the old days, ignoring how one of them trying to pull on his coat to put him off balance and another tried to use the two bits of hair he kept braided at the front against him, foregoing a duel disk in favour of fists and feet.

Before he knew it, he stood, slightly bruised now himself, in the middle of a room full of six unconscious bodies, the seventh having run off in fear.

Jack hadn't come to bring scum to their senses, or to justice.  That could be done any other day.  He felt no need to go after a rat that had left its brood.

He looked around, desperately - _Yuusei?  Yuusei!_ \- until his Signer mark started to react, leading him toward where his friend was, something that had been a vague throb earlier in the day, but which hadn't been able to help him properly until now.

Yuusei was an absolute mess, he realised as he came up to the place where the other duellist was half-lying, half sitting propped up against a wall.  His face was blotched with bruises that were already forming, and his clothes were torn, which made Jack sure that there were far worse injuries hiding underneath.  What was more, he only seemed distantly aware that Jack was even there; and even that, only because their Signer marks had resonated.

Without knowing how else to do it, Jack put one of his arms under Yuusei's knees, the other carefully around his shoulders, and lifted.

There were winces visible on Yuusei's face as he did so, but there was nothing else he could do. At least Yuusei was light - he'd never truly realised how light before now.  But it would make bringing him out of this place and somewhere safe that much easier.

The stairs were much harder on the way down than they had been on the way up.  Visibility was lacking now due to there being something blocking his line of sight, and at each step Yuusei's face contracted in pain that Jack could do nothing about.  Halfway down he had an incoming call that he could do nothing about, leaving him cursing until he reached the bottom, at which point he realised that he had to find his way back to the Wheel of Fortune and somehow position Yuusei on the bike, along with his injuries, so that he didn't fall off.

What was a short walk before was now fraught with danger; Yuusei was a liability, a weakness that meant that in a fight, he would have his hands tied.  But somehow, he found that he was able to make his way to the D-Wheel's hiding place without encountering anyone who wished to make something of the fact.

The tricky part was, of course, finding a way for Yuusei to stay on.  The Wheel of Fortune wasn't built for more than one person.

It took no small amount of innovation on his part to position Yuusei in such a way that he could still ride, let alone do his best not to aggravate any of the injuries he'd sustained.  He forced himself to ignore the winces and childlike reactions to the pain that his friend had, and the fact that even now, he still hadn't woken up enough to open his eyes even once.

It wasn't as if there was anything he could do.  Not outside of what he _already was_ doing.

The D-Wheel's engines revved, and he sped off, away from the area entirely, although at a much slower pace than when he'd arrived.  He would have loved to have gone faster, but with Yuusei the way he was, it was best not to take the risk.

Crow called not long after he'd set off, and it turned out he had been the one who'd tried to contact him while they'd been navigating the stairs.  Tersely, Jack had told him to pass the message on to Ushio that there were several hopefully still unconscious markered criminals in the apartment building he'd just come out of, and gave the address.  Crow, he was sure, would have objected - but then he realised that Yuusei wasn't just riding behind Jack, but the state he was in, and had simply nodded and hung up with a serious face.

Even then, and especially with the low speed that he was forcing himself to endure, the journey back into Neo Domino proper felt excruciatingly slow, even compared to the search earlier that day that had, he knew, taken far longer.

He pulled up into the first hospital with an Accident and Emergency that he found, parking the D-Wheel out front regardless of what the markings on the ground said he should do, and was careful to catch Yuusei, still vaguely unconscious, before he hit the ground on top of everything else he'd already endured, shifting him to the same carrying position as before, kicking open the doors when they didn't open fast enough and he wasn't able to simply push them apart.

They were greeted by stares.  Attention that he both despised and welcomed in equal parts; despised, because this wasn't just some publicity stunt, this was his _friend_ here, who was actually injured, who actually needed _help_.   Welcomed, because it meant that he had almost all eyes on him.

"Don't just stand there gawking!" He snapped at the dithering doctors and nurses.  "Help me with him!"

As if his words were some sort of catalyst to break the apathy, he was immediately surrounded by movement, and before he knew it Yuusei was gone, taken, _safe,_ being helped, and Jack himself was left standing in the lobby of the hospital, wondering what he was supposed to do next.

...

AN: Based on first one, then several arts that I found on Tumblr.  The last part ended up having to be re-written, but I think (hope) I didn't do too badly, and maybe even fixed a couple of bits where it didn't flow so easily.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack spent the first half hour sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair, head resting on his hands.

The feeling of numbness running through him reminded him of the odd feeling he'd had shortly after making the run to Neo Domino.  He'd been able to hide and push away his worry for those from his old life then, even though he'd been the one who'd left them behind, even though he'd been the one who'd betrayed and hurt them, but this time, this time... he felt like he'd let Yuusei down in some way he couldn't describe.  Like perhaps if he'd thought to go looking earlier, Yuusei would... wouldn't be in hospital.

He wanted, desperately, to blame someone.  But the numb feeling reminded him that while he knew those punks by the look of them, that Ushio wouldn't have known their history.  They didn't, as a general rule, talk about that time all that much with anyone.  Carly being a rare exemption, but then... even she forgot, didn't she?

It certainly wasn't Yuusei's own fault, although they'd only know what really happened when he woke up.

He'd never liked needles.  Jack had always pretended he was above it, and after a while he wasn't as scared as he used to be, but he remembered Yuusei squirming and hiding behind Martha's legs whenever the doctor said they'd need blood taken, or if someone had smuggled in a new vaccine. He'd give in quietly, but...

In the present, Jack sighed and closed his eyes, feeling the time almost slowing down around him in response to his impatience for it all to be over, and his fear that something would go horribly wrong.

Crow was the first to arrive, looking about as frantic as Jack felt inside, although at least he was able to just let it out in that way of his, while Jack himself just felt sick by this point. 

Crow had come to them when Yuusei'd been old enough that he'd just put up with it with a clenched jaw, not showing that he was still afraid.  They knew, though, most of them did anyway.  But Crow hadn't seen.  He hadn't been told, and it'd never come up.  He didn't know.

And now, Yuusei was in there, with needles sticking in him, and he probably didn't even know.

"They said he'd be in there for another hour at best, y'know."

Crow hadn't stopped pacing up and down since he'd arrived, and Jack hadn't the heart to ask him to stop.

"Hn."

"They said he was damn lucky you got to him when you did."

"...Mn."

He looked away, eyes darting anywhere other than where Crow was.  If only he'd been there _sooner_...

"Look, Jack... you did what you could, right?  Like any of us would've.  If anyone's gonna be hitting themselves, it's gonna be me.  Or Ushio, who sent Yuusei to do that in the first place.  You got there.  Don't matter if you can't turn back or, or wish you'd gone faster.  Hell, I wish I'd even _known_ before you called me."

A nurse passed, and Jack sighed, remembering that one time he'd duelled with Carly as his arm in a hospital that was now rebuilt and refurbished.

"What about the others?"

There was nothing he could do, or that was how it felt.

"Ah, Rua, Ruka and Aki are all still at school... I left messages for them, though."

Jack nodded.  No point taking them out or worrying them when there was nothing they could do, either.

Not a thing to do but wait.

...

He must have fallen asleep at some point, because he woke up to Crow saying his name and holding two paper cups, one in each hand, looking just as tired and worn out as Jack felt.  He took one of them and blew on it a little before taking a tentative sip.

He fought back a grimace.  Compared to Blue Eyes Mountain, it was like watered down mud (and he remembered the taste, too, just because you made it look close enough didn't mean you should try and eat the mud pies, and he could even remember Martha saying exactly that the next day), but it was still coffee, and the white of the hospital walls was starting to give him a groggy headache.

"I told Aki and the twins what happened," Crow was saying as Jack forced the rest of the drink down.  "Aki was pissed we didn't tell her earlier, though the way she was I'm almost glad we _didn't_.  Could've been..."

Dangerous?  When some punks had just put the one person she'd formed a proper attachment to in hospital?  He'd seen her as the Witch - not at her worst, apparently, according to some, but close enough for him to get that a bit of space between her and the gang he'd beaten up would be a good thing.

Crow sighed, staring into his coffee instead of drinking it, as though he were watching the steam patterns.

"They said they were coming over as soon as they could.  He should... should be out by then.  I asked."

Not long, then.

"Jack...?"

He'd started to toy with the cup, making nervous movements that, as king, he'd never been known for.  Then again, as king he'd never been really 'him', having taken himself away from his home, his friends, his family... anything that would make him feel enough at ease to not constantly give everyone the act that he was untouchable.

"I should have been there sooner," was all he said, crushing the paper cup in his hands as though the act of destruction could set right all of the small mistakes they'd made to get to this point.

"Yeah," Crow said.  "Yeah..."

He was thankful that he wasn't being told that everything was going to be fine, or that it wasn't his fault.

He _knew_ these things.  But _knowing_ didn't help him feel any better when he still felt as though he'd somehow betrayed them.

Still-hot liquid seeped through thin cardboard, lightly scalding his hand.  He stood abruptly, the excuse being to find a rubbish bin for the now useless cup, but the truth being that he needed to _move_.

By the time he returned, Crow was talking to a doctor, who bowed politely as he came up to them.

"As I just told your Crow-san here, we've been able to stabilise your friend, and he's responding well to treatment.  We'll be keeping him here until we deem him fit to be discharged, however, or if he wishes to leave earlier than that so long as he agrees to rest until he's fully recovered and the sling can come off."

He must have made some sort of noise of protest, because Crow shot him a serious look, one that said he _knew_ what the implications of that were.

The doctor sighed.

"I understand that as a prominent duelist, Yuusei-kun is going to want to participate as soon as he can.  Please do not allow anything that would make his injuries worse than they already are.  That would include the use of a duel disk, I'm afraid, but I'm sure that with the right amount of rest, he'll be up to using one again soon enough."

He bowed to both of them, and carried on back into the main area, where he stopped another orderly and they could see him get into deep conversation.  Jack didn't want to know if it was over Yuusei, or some other patient stuck here.

...

Aki and the twins arrived fifteen minutes after Yuusei'd been wheeled out, looking in such a state that neither Jack nor Crow had ever seen him in before, dead to the world aside from the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, a mask still over his face which they were told shouldn't be needed for long.

'Shouldn't', Jack noticed, was the key word.

Aki gasped as Crow showed her in, Jack himself leaning against the wall - he'd had enough of sitting on those awful chairs for hours - the twins holding onto each other in worry and the desperate need for someone to tell them that it was going to be all right, which they were getting more from Crow, who was better able to deal with the situation.

He felt responsible.

It didn't make sense, and there were far better people to pin any of the blame on, but he'd been there.  He'd seen what had happened.  He _could_ have acted faster, he felt like maybe, if he had...

The doctors had later said that Yuusei was 'lucky'.  'Lucky' that help had arrived when it had, or things wouldn't be so easy.  

He felt a tugging at his coat.  Looked down, to find Ruka looking up at him with wide, almost nervous eyes.

"You... you found him, right?"

"Hn."

She smiled brightly up at him.

"Ah, I thought it was!  I just... Kuribon told me something was wrong, but I was in class, and I didn't think anyone would have... um... understood, if I'd tried to tell them...  So what I'm trying to say is, thank you!"

"Mn-?!"

He stared, taken aback, and then tried to look away, only to find his vision filled with the other twin instead.

"Yeah, because we wouldn't want to loose Yuusei either!"

Aki had sat down on one of those hard hospital seats next to Yuusei's head, and was watching over him as he slept, while Crow was watching Jack with a small smirk on his face from what the twins were saying.

They'd have to leave soon, or some of them would, but for the time being at least they could just be there, and maybe they'd watch over each other for a while.

If Martha were there, she'd be telling him to get some rest for himself in a proper bed, and maybe he would.  Once he knew Yuusei was definitely going to be all right, and could tell him off for it himself, that is.

...

AN: Okay so a shorter chapter than last time but wow a lot of Jack introspection again.  Also, plot has moved forwards - Yuusei's now had surgery (albeit the Vague Surgery of Vagueness due to my incompetance in the area of specififying his injuries) and is on the road to recovery.

But it is going to be slow.  And he's going to have to rest properly.  Oh dear. I somehow don't see that happening, given it's Yuusei...


End file.
